Perpetual Manipulation
by Auphanim
Summary: After six deadly Sephiroth clones escape from the newlybuilt ShinRa laboratories, Cloud decides he can go into one last quest before sinking into retirement. But the clones aren't just running blindly, and they aren't doing what they were made to do . . .
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, Advent Children, or anything else that I threw into this that I can't remember right now. This is the disclaimer for the entire story, but if I add anything else, I'll put another disclaimer in.

Warnings: Eventual yaoi (I'll put this warning on any chapters with yaoi content), eventual yuri (I'll do the same thing as with the yaoi), eventual het couple (Same as the others), violence, foul language, lots of OCs (No Mary or Gary Sues, I promise. No self inserts either), alcohol, eventual crossover (do I need to warn people of this one? oo)

Author's Notes (important?):

"Blah" Speech

'Blah' Thoughts

OOOOOOOO Scene Change

AAAAAAAA Chapter End

Author's Notes (no importance what-so-ever):

Yay! This is going to be my first story that has actual plot rather than the crap that I usually throw out. ;;; Please be nice and review this story so I know if I should continue writing it or if I should get rid of it.

I apologize here and now, because I'm bound to get some things from FFVII wrong since I haven't played it in a while.

This story does not revolve around Advent Children although it does have Kadaj, Yazu, and Loz in it.

I want to write what I feel like writing, so I'm going to put in yaoi, yuri, and het couples, but I'll put a warning at the top of any chapter that has a lot of couple stuff in it. xx Don't be driven off by the different couples, please.

Okay, I'm done, so on with the fic! D

Chapter One

It was hard to believe that the thriving metropolis called Midgar had, just two short years earlier, been a pile of rubble, a monument to a city ravaged by the assault of a Weapon and a meteor. Now, the city had reformed, becoming bigger and more horrid than ever, with even larger sky scrapers reaching up to puncture a sky that was black with the smog that continuously flowed from the Makou Reactors that had been re-established.

Shin-Ra Tower had been rebuilt, stretching up into the thick, dark sky even more so than in the old days of the original president. There were two layers of plates now, with a third one being built. The very bottom one that covered the slums in a blanket of darkness was the largest of them. About three hundred meters up, there was another series of plates blocking out the sun, this one a bit smaller than the one underneath. And just another hundred meters from the very top of the tower, yet another pizza-like plate structure was being built, smaller than both of the ones below it.

One woman was responsible for the reconstruction of the mighty city. She had swept in like a plague, taking over everything in her path and gathering followers, evolving as she went along. Soon, she had made herself president and had set about getting life in Midgar back to the way it was supposed to be. The woman could care less about the planet, or about what the people under her plates and her smog were going through.

This woman, this horrid scar on the face of humanity, was not exactly what you would call attractive. Her skin was rough and the color of souring milk. She was badly out of shape, her stomach rounding into some very unpleasant curves. When she was angry or excited, her face grew blotchy and red, making her appear more disgusting than usual. Her green eyes were lackluster and cold, seeing nothing but prospects for money, and her long, graying brown hair was always coiled in a tight bun on the back of her neck.

This woman, Alro Miliky, had single-handedly clawed her way up through the chain of command to where she was today, sitting in her chair on the very top floor of the Midgar Tower, overlooking her empire of decaying people and Earth-killing machinery. But was this realm enough for her? No. She wanted more, and she had found it. It was the reason the top plates were still in construction, the reason why her eyes always looked off towards the west when she looked out a window. It was the reason the planet was dying so quickly.

It was something that the last generation to rule Midgar had used Aerith to search for, but had never been able to find. But she, she had been able to find the 'promised land', the place on the earth that was filled with glowing Makou, practically overflowing with it. It had been uncovered within the Northern Crater, where the last battle with Sephiroth had taken place, deep in the darkness that had covered its presence for so long.

Miliky had found the perfect spot for NeoMidgar, and its construction was underway as she stroked the cat in her lap with her fat fingers. A cruel smile was splayed across her face, revealing off-white, uneven teeth. Midgar was hers, and she had already proven herself to be a much more competent leader than the past presidents. As she overlooked her kingdom, she started to laugh. It was gleeful and mocking, scorning the attempts of both Cloud and Holy, as what they had done hadn't changed the future of the planet one iota. In fact, it was the fighting that had taken place in the crater that had sped the planets path to destruction.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly, and that was true for the most part, but there had been one tiny accident, a little leak of something from the labs that were situated just a few floors under Miliky's feet. The scientists had let something out, something that had been claimed a success. Well, that was, once again, for the most part. Although the scientists had dubbed their experiments ready for communication with the outside world, they hadn't been ready to release the beings into the 'wilderness' just yet.

Apparently, Miliky had been told, one of the scientists misunderstood this and opened the door for them, watching with pride as the six silver-haired clones ran out the door to freedom. The last one out, the youngest and the one most like the Great General himself, slit the beaming scientist's stomach open, watching transfixed as his entrails spilled out onto the floor, a bright red against the smooth pallid floor. There was only one problem with that story. The boy had nothing to cut with. Most would say that he used some lab equipment, but everything was in order when the scientists examined their precious work stations.

Most of the scientists had been fired in the days following the escape of the Sephiroth clones. Soon the only ones left from the original team were the experts and a few other scientists that knew what exactly was supposed to go on in the heads of the clones. Miliky had kept them because she needed someone to track the clones down, and as far as she could see, the scientists were the only ones that could really predict what the clones were going to do.

That would help, but the scientists came to realize that sitting around in the labs, putting marks on a map of where each clone would more than likely be headed was not helping at all. So they sent out one of their new apprentices, a young man with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He was short for a man, about 5'6'' and had the slight figure that most scientists had, unless they liked their donuts too much. And so, equipped with a map of where the clones would scamper to and how they would most likely do it, the scientist-in-training left the relative safety of the labs and went into the city, heading out, but also looking for anyone that might be able to help him.

He'd been sent out days ago, but there was no word yet. No one was really worried, for the closest city he would be heading to was quite a ways away. If another week went by without him contacting them, they would assume that he'd died and send another out. All anyone in the building was really worried about was getting the clones back in the shelter of the labs until they had been deemed under Shin-Ra control.

OOOOOOOO

He stared off into space, his fingers barely holding the neck of his beer firm enough to keep it from crashing down to the worn, wooden table he was sitting at. The lights were yellowed with smoke and age, giving the entire bar the feel of something sickly; a place where illegal tradings occurred all the time, and where the gangsters of the old age would have felt most at home.

The blond man sighed, his depression showing through the mask that he usually wore. He missed the old days, when Midgar was at least smaller and he didn't give a rat's ass about the planet. He missed Tifa's old bar, Hell, he even missed the old Shin-Ra. They were less ruthless than the president that now ruled over them all.

His blue eyes slowly focused on his present surroundings. The grip he had on his beer tightened as he brought the bottle to his lips, chugging the rest of the foul liquid down in one gulp. He looked through the smoke-filled air, wondering if any of the others that had fought along side him had found their way back into the slums of Midgar. But alas, it was not to be. All the others had moved on, yet he, their 'leader', had been left in the rubble, his memories of what he had done too painful to let him go on with his life. The guilt that clawed at his heart was like a chain; drawing him to places that he would have preferred never to see again.

Setting his elbow on the table, he dropped the empty beer bottle, watching as it hit the table, toppling onto its side and rolling in an arc towards the edge of the round table. Without losing momentum, the bottle fell to the wooden floor with a dull 'thud'. The blond stared at the edge of the table the bottle had fallen off, certain there was something symbolic in that, but couldn't find the will to search for the meaning, if there was one, behind the bottle's destructive suicide attempt.

After a few moments of silent staring, the man's blue glowing eyes swiveled to look at the empty bottles that littered his table. There were about a dozen, but he wasn't even feeling a buzz yet. Making a small, disapproving face at the pile of bottles, he cursed under his breath the Makou that flowed in his veins. He rested his head in his hand, fingers tapping against the area just above his upper lip.

Although he didn't feel any of the effects of what he'd been drinking, Cloud figured that he'd had enough, throwing some Gil on the table and walking out, careful to look for any sign of something that appeared to be out of the ordinary. Even if he had become a bit of a mess in the years following Sephiroth's death, he still kept to his fighter's sense, clinging to the air of what he had started out as and what he remained today; the only thing that seemed to be constant in his life.

Walking over to the swinging wooden doors, he lightly pressed on the right one, wincing as a beam of sunlight cut through the yellowed air of the bar. Squinting his blue eyes, Cloud walked out into the light and heat of Costa del Sol enjoying the way the radiation from the sun quickly gave his chilly limbs warmth. His black clothing absorbed and attracted more heat, until he finally didn't think he could bear much more and moved quickly towards the inn he was staying in.

As he grasped the hot doorknob of the white door and swung it open, he felt a burst of air-conditioning hit him like a head-on collision. He gasped slightly, not sure why he hadn't expected that. The sudden rush of cold air reminded him of when the Highwind had first landed at the Northern Crater, the way he had opened to door to be greeted by a rush of freezing air that seemed to make his lungs sting every time he breathed in and came out in white puffs of carbon monoxide whenever he breathed out. Shaking his head as if all could be forgotten by the action, he stepped into the inn.

The workers inside greeted him jovially; not only was he the 'savior' of their planet, but he had been staying in the inn for a while now, and he'd surprisingly gotten to know all of them. One in particular, Stephanie, went out of her way to greet him, her green eyes sparkling and her blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She was a nice girl, but Cloud had found that he couldn't get her away easily sometimes.

"Hello Cloud," she greeted, smiling and giving him a quick hug as if he'd been gone for days and not just a few hours. "Where have you been? I usually find you here when I start my shift."

He didn't exactly feel like she needed to know where he'd been, but to polite he replied, "I've been off at the bar."

"Cloud," she whined, her hands on her hips in that womanly manner, "what on Earth did you think you were doing? Going to a bar. . . Sheesh."

"Stephanie, I appreciate the concern, but you're not my mother," Cloud stated, frowning at the girl in front of him. It annoyed him to no end when she acted like this, as if he enjoyed being yelled at like a child who hadn't given the proper respect to his mother or father.

"You're right, I'm sorry," the girl said with a sigh, her eyes looking downward at the floor and filling with a few tears. "I just worry about you so much some times . . . and I hate to see you down at that crummy bar trying to drink your way into a state of numbness. . . It isn't healthy, you know."

Of course he knew, the man hadn't been born yesterday. He didn't need to be told that what he was doing was hurting him, not helping, and he especially didn't need it from some girl that worked at an inn to pay for her up-coming college career. Instead of continuing the conversation by saying that he forgave her and that he was wrong, Cloud just shrugged one shoulder, heading to his room.

As he passed by the reception desk, he noticed a man with black hair checking in. The man had quite a few bags carefully placed on the ground next to him. Cloud raised an eyebrow at all the bags, then stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the Shin-Ra logo on one of them. The blond stared at the bag, until a black clothed leg was placed in front of the logo. His blue eyes followed the leg up to the hip, then up the torso, up the neck, and finally settled on the face of the owner of that leg. He quickly averted his eyes and went on his way when he saw the heated glare on the man's face.

Once Cloud got into the hallway, he opened the door to his room and slipped inside, leaving a crack open so he could see out into the corridor. A few minutes after this, the black haired man walked by, his bags gathered up in both of his hands and a key to open a room door held precariously in his teeth. Cloud leaned out the door as the other passed, watching at which room the man stopped at.

The man walked slowly down the rows of doors, his lips silently mouthing the numbers until he found the one he needed. Setting the bags in his right hand down gently, he took the key out of his clenched teeth, drying it off on his black sweater and unlocking the door. Cloud made a mental note of what room the man just entered and then retreated back into his room, closing his door quietly and locking it.

The blond looked over his room, wondering what to do until it was dark. His eyes rested on the bed under his window. The curtains had been drawn back, making light hit the flower-patterned sheets. A desk next to the bed had a few of Cloud's items on it; a locket with a picture of Tifa in it, the bangles that held his materia, a small black bible that was slightly worn (it had been Aerith's), and a photograph of the group that had defeated Sephiroth. He walked over to the desk, picking up the photo and looking at it with sad eyes. Everyone was there . . . everyone except Aerith. . .

He sighed, setting the picture back down and looked over to the clock hanging on a wall across the room. 12:42. Cloud still had a few hours before the sun sank down under the water. Sighing, he reached over and pulled the curtains over his window, the action making his room lapse into darkness. With that complete, he stripped off his boots and trench coat, leaving only his black pants and a white tank top. Running out of things to do, he flopped back on his bed, closing his eyes to rest for a while as he waited for the perfect time to sneak in and discover what that Shin-Ra employee was doing here.

As it turned out, Cloud didn't get to rest for more than a few minutes, for at 1:25 there was a knock at his door. He shut his eyes tighter, trying desperately to slip back into the half-awake, half-asleep state he'd been in. His mind blocked out the knocking, but soon there came a sound that he found he couldn't easily block out. Stephanie's voice.

He sat up and listened to what she was saying. Apparently she got the day off and wanted to go to the beach. And, apparently, she wanted to go with him. Sighing, he stood up, figuring that he owed her something for just walking away from her when she'd been talking to him. He walked over to his dresser, opening the bottom shelf and taking out swimming trunks while telling Stephanie that he'd be out in a moment.

He winced at the high-pitched squeal that erupted from the girl as she made her glee known to the entire western hemisphere, but soon he was smiling and chuckling as he heard her boss give her a quick tongue-lashing about making loud, annoying sounds in the inn. Still smiling, he changed into his swimming trunks which were, amazingly, black. They were loose, but the elastic fit well on his hips and the material went down to just above his knee. Not bothering with shoes, he went out barefoot, feeling a cold chill go through him as his feet touched the frigid marble floor of the hallway.

His appearance made Stephanie even happier. She grabbed his wrists and started to drag him out of the hotel, all the while talking about all the fun there were going to have. She was wearing an emerald two piece and showed off quite a bit of skin. A see-through green shawl was tied around her waist to give the appearance of modesty. He noticed that her hair was down. It was one of the only times he'd ever seen her off-duty.

Before he knew it, Cloud was at the beach with Stephanie. It seemed to have taken no time at all to traverse the streets between the beach and the inn. Time didn't move any more slowly once they arrived. The two goofed off in the water, stretched out on the beach, Stephanie tanned while Cloud buried her in sand, and to end things, they made a giant sandcastle next to the edge of the water. By the time Stephanie had started to tire, the sun had begun to set.

"We've had a pretty full afternoon, huh," she said, digging her toes into the sand as she and Cloud watched the sun sinking down over the water.

"Yeah. I have to admit, it's been . . . fun," he stated, his eyes never leaving the water that stretched out in front of him. He remembered seeing it from above in the Highwind, how the sun's light glinting off it seemed to be magnified from the air.

"Yes, it had been fun," a giggle escaped her as she laid her head on Cloud's shoulder, watching the sun set with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"We should go back soon."

"Mmm. I suppose we must. My family might get upset if I stay out too much longer. Will you walk me home?"

"Sure." Cloud stood up, offering his hand to the blonde still sitting on the beach. He could almost feel her reluctance to leave. His eyes drifted off to the sea again as she stood up and tied the shawl back around her waist. He smiled, remembering the time he and Aerith had come here. It had turned out to be a day quite like the one he'd just shared with Stephanie.

The man came back out of his memories as he felt fingers lace with his own. He looked over to see the girl smiling, her green eyes catching the fading light. Giving her a small smile, he started walking in the direction of her house, wondering when the black-haired Shin-Ra man would fall asleep. He spaced out, planning out what exactly he was going to do. It wasn't until he felt a tug on his arm that he snapped out of it and realized that he had been trying to walk on, past Stephanie's house.

"I've had a great day," Stephanie said, not letting go of his head and standing on the steps that lead up to her house. She seemed to be waiting for something.

"Me too. Well, good night. . ." he replied awkwardly, his hand pulling back away from hers. As soon as this was done, he turned, heading towards the inn. The sun had set while they were walking, so he was planning on changing back into some actual clothes and then carrying out his mission.

With the man's back to her, he didn't see the heartbroken expression that quivered across Stephanie's face as he walked away.

Cloud walked quickly, anxious to get back to his inn and decipher the mystery of the Shin-Ra man. The night was warm and a bit muggy; it was terribly humid at night in and around Costa del Sol, and he was thankful that he was in his swimming trunks. He figured that if he'd had been wearing his usual clothing, he would've had a heat stroke by now.

The night may have been hot, but it was certainly not quiet. The rural area that Stephanie lived in was peaceful enough, but once he got to the main part of the city where the inn was, the night was alive with neon lights. Sounds from the bar drifted over to him: people cursing, beers clinking, and a crowd of people cheering on one sport or another. Cloud ignored all this, going quietly to the inn just a few streets down from the bar.

After what seemed like an eternity to him, the blond finally reached the front door of the inn. He grabbed the familiar gold-painted doorknob and opened the white doors. Instantly, his body broke out in goosebumps as the cold air hit his still-drying body. He scampered in, running to his room to try and keep his feet from being on the cold marble floors for too long. The fighter made quite a spectacle.

Finally in the safety of his carpeted room, he undressed, hanging his wet trunks over the edge of the bathtub that also doubled as shower. He picked up a towel from the closet and set to drying his body and hair more thoroughly. Once he dubbed himself as 'adequate', he redressed in a pair of loose, black sweat pants and a white T-shirt. He slipped a pair of socks and his boots on and left the room, heading for room #23. That was where his 'adversary' was staying and hopefully sleeping. He glanced over at the clock on his way out. 9:31pm. The sun set pretty late over here, so there was a chance that Shin-Ra man was asleep.

Creeping out of his room, he peered out into the hallway. The inn ran 24-7, but business usually stopped around 10pm or so. That meant that most of the work was done and most employees sent home by about 9:30 or so. The blond didn't see anyone in the hallway, so he quickly rushed over to #23. It was then that he realized he'd need a key. Not ready to give up yet, he reached for the doorknob and tried it, hoping that it would turn easily. To his surprise, it turned soundlessly. A grin slithered onto his face, as he opened the door all the way, entering the room quickly, then turning to close the door as quietly as possible.

The Shin-Ra man was asleep on his bed, a laptop resting on the bed next to him. It was opened to a file and there was a map with marks drawn all over it on his other side. Instantly curious, Cloud walked quietly over to the computer, turning it to see the monitor better. The file was a report titled 'CR56'. He frowned, not understanding what that stood for. He put the text box back until it was at the beginning, then read through it. The report was mostly about how the clones (it hadn't specified who they were clones of, but Cloud could guess) had managed to escape and where they would most likely go. His frown even deeper, he started to lean over the man to look at the map, but he stopped and froze when he heard the soft click of a gun and felt a barrel press to the side of his head.

"Don't move," the black haired man said, giving Cloud a very harsh glare.

"What the hell is all this?" He motioned with his head to the computer and the map.

"Classified information that you shouldn't have seen," he replied, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against the blond's head.

"Ouch, take it easy. Who are they clones of?"

"I'm not to tell you anything-"

"Sephiroth?"

". . . ."

"That's what I thought. Why are there more clones?" Cloud demanded, feeling very uneasy now that his worst fears had been realized. Sephiroth was back; not the actual Sephiroth of course, but six clones of him had to be worse.

"You're Cloud Strife aren't you?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"Sit down over in that chair, and I'll start things from the beginning. It'll be easier to understand that way," the black haired man said. He removed the gun from the side of Cloud's head, but kept it aimed at him, making sure that the other wouldn't run off.

Cloud walked over to the chair and dragged it over next to the bed so they wouldn't have to shout at each other during the entire conversation. He sat down, leaning back in the chair expectantly. "Well? Spill it."

"All, first off, my name's Ian Zamdi. I'm an intern over in the Shin-Ra labs. There was an accident a few weeks ago, involving clones made from many different creatures, Sephiroth included. To make a long story short, the clones escaped from the building and ran on their own, killing the scientist that had let them out.

"I was sent out just a few days ago to hunt down and retrieve the clones, but I've been unsuccessful so far. Over on the map, you can see a few cities and places circled along with routes that lead to there. I've gone to two of the sites that are on there so far, and I haven't found even a trace of the clones, which means that either the scientists back at Shin-Ra are mistaken about their own creatures or they aren't telling me something important.

"But that's a Shin-Ra matter that I can deal with on my own. I'm sorry, but that's all the background information I have. I'm still pretty low on the scientifical ladder, so I'm not privy to much information. Now that I've told you all of this, there is one thing that I need of you."

Cloud was still trying to get everything together. It was clear that the young Ian didn't have very much knowledge about the clones, but it was pretty obvious to Cloud that if these clones were truly beings made of Sephiroth, they had to be stopped quickly. "Sure, I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"That's good. Help me capture the clones then."

"Fine. I happen to agree with the idiots at Shin-Ra that these things need to be contained. But I have one request of you before I'll go anywhere."

"Fine, what is it?"

"You have to get me more information about these clones; I'm not going into a fight with one of them unprepared."

"I can give you a physical description of them, but that's about it. To get their fighting abilities and what they've been created from, you'll have to go back to the labs at Shin-Ra. And before you say, I can't go back there unless I'm in a body bag or I've got one of the clones."

"Shit. Well, I guess we'll just have to sneak into the Shin-Ra building. How's the security there?"

"Considering the time when you broke into the Shin-Ra Tower, I'd say the security's at least tripled."

"Oh, you're just full of good news aren't you? I'll need some help getting in there then. We'll have to stop at Kalm on our way back to Midgar, that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine. It's on our way."

"Good. Now, tell be whatever you know about these clones."

"Okay. The oldest are 25, the twins Aori and Taki. Aori has very long silvery-brown hair that goes down about to her knees and bright green eyes. Her fingers end in claws and she apparently has a brown wolf tail, complete with matching wolf ears. It shouldn't be too difficult to spot her. Taki is almost identical to his sister, except that he's a male and that his hair is short, cut at about the top of his neck. Both are very slender and incredibly quick. Those two always travel together, much like natural twins would.

"The next oldest is Loz, 23. He has short spiky silver hair and ice blue eyes. Unlike the other clones, his body is very well built. Loz is broad shouldered and heavy, but he can move as quickly as you or I. He was usually seen around the clones Yazu and Kadaj in the labs, but he may be traveling alone.

"Next at 21 is Kujaku. His hair is also silver and it goes down to floor, hell it drags on the floor when he walks. His eyes are violet and he is a very kind person. It's not expected that he's going to fight and is probably near some peaceful place. The one thing that makes him a bit different is his ability to use magic without the aid of material and the fact that he has wings.

"Yazu is the second youngest at 20. Following the pattern, his hair is silver. It goes down his back just a few inches below his shoulders and his eyes are the same icy blue color as Loz's. He is slender like all the others. That's all they told be about him.

"Finally, the youngest one, Kadaj, 18. His hair is cut haphazardly at the top of his shoulder and his eyes are a blue-green color. The scientists said that he was the most like the original Sephiroth. They said that he was mind-bogglingly good with a sword and that he was just a touch insane."

"That's all the information they gave you?"

"Yes. Sad, isn't it?"

"Extremely. Well, there's no helping it now. Get some rest Ian; we'll head out in the morning for Kalm."

"One more question though."

"Yeah?"

"Why Kalm?"

"There's someone I know that can help us there."

"Oh, I see. Well, good night. I'll meet you in the lobby at 6, all right?"

"Fine."

Cloud left the room, mulling over the best way to get into Shin-Ra Tower. He thought about the ways he'd done it in the past, then remembered that the building had been changed quite a bit since then, but with luck the bottom parts hadn't been rebuilt. Sighing, Cloud reached his room and undressed again, this time leaving his boxers as the only thing on. He climbed tiredly into his bed, huddling under the covers and now pondering a much bigger question than how he was going to get into the building. How was he going to get Tifa to help him?

AAAAAAAA

Hope you liked it, now click the button and tell me what you think! Oh, and I'm not sure what couples I'm going to have yet, so if you have a suggestion I'd be happy to hear it. Otherwise, I'll just put in ones I like.


	2. Chapter 2

Warnings: Violence, angst, OC

Author Notes:

Well, we here at my computer desk are proud to announce a temporary title for this fic that might stay or might go, depending on how I feel about it.

**Perpetual Manipulation**

Yey.

Chapter Two

It was one of those days. The kind of day that made you really wish you hadn't helped save the world from a giant meteor. Yet for some odd reason, at the time it had seemed to be a pretty good idea. That was, of course, before Tifa Lockheart had learned about these kinds of particular days.

'If I had known back then that these shitty days were going to take over just as soon as Sephiroth was defeated,' she proclaimed silently to herself, 'I would've said 'the world's better off with you' and left him alone to rot in that crater.'

Sighing and strumming her fingers quietly on the wooden desk she leaned against, Tifa stared out a window of the new 7th Heaven she had built; only this doubled as both an inn and an orphanage. After the battle with Sephiroth and all the Weapons, there had been many children left without homes. Plus, there was a new disease spreading around called GeoStigma.

GeoStigma was mostly found in children, though some adults did pop up with a case of it as well. The disease was non-contagious, and apparently caused by Makou and the Lifestream, though it had never been heard of before Sephiroth had been killed. It was mostly found in children, though adults could contract it as well. The disease mostly affected one area of the body, and caused severe pain and ultimately death, as well as mental weakness.

Tifa shuddered, feeling a cold chill go through her as she thought of how many children she had in the orphanage with that disease. Whenever she thought of the dreaded GeoStigma, it made her feel a chill that made her wonder if she could ever feel happy again; if the sun would ever be able to cut through the thick layers of ice and thaw her frozen skin.

Shaking her head and breaking free of her depressing thoughts, the woman turned to go into the back and watch the children. Marlene was supposed to be watching the other children while Tifa was taking a bit of a break, but Marlene was a young girl too, and bound to be tempted into merely playing around with the children instead of just supervising them. Not that Tifa blamed her for it, but the 7th Heaven really needed some extra help. With Barrett out looking for a better energy source to replace Makou , the woman was on her own in protecting the little ones.

"Tifa! Tifa! Come have a look-see at what we found!" exclaimed Denzel. He was one of the orphans, no older than Marlene, but the others looked towards him as something of a leader. His brown hair was cut short; his bangs hanging just a little lower than his green eyes.

Smiling and turning away from the window, Tifa bent down, her hands resting on her knees. "What did you all find Denzel?"

"Just come see, we don't have time to idle chit-chat." With that said, the young boy ran off, covering his mouth with a fist as he coughed. Tifa stood back up, looking at Denzel's retreating back with a kind of sorrow. He was one of the unfortunate children from the slums of old Midgar, and had GeoStigma. All though it hurt her to know that he would someday lose his sanity to the ravaging of the disease; she was almost glad that he only had GeoStigma. At least with that they didn't have to worry about it being spread very easily.

Throwing herself out of her deep thoughts once again, Tifa walked towards the back and past the bed rooms, wondering what the children had found. She hoped it wasn't something dangerous, but got her fighting gloves on just in case. The last time the children had 'found' something, they'd stumbled into a monster's nest.

"What did you-" She stopped short in her question as she walked out the back door, staring down at a blood-soaked figure laying face-down on the ground. Recovering from her shock, she ran over to the body, shooing the children away from it and resting her fore finger and middle finger on the person's neck. There was a pulse, but it was faint.

"Kids, go inside. Denzel and Marlene, go get some help. Maybe the pub will have some people willing to help," Tifa ordered, rolling the person onto his back. Her arm was underneath him and she was preparing to lift him up. Stopping with a jolt once again, she stared down at the man in her arms, flipping him over again so she could see his back. Her eyes widened with surprise as she saw a pair of mutilated wings resting lifelessly against his back.

Flipping him back over, she scooped his body into her arms and carried him quickly inside, fearing that whatever had attacked him might come back to finish what it had started. Hurrying past the confused huddle of children, she took him into her room, laying him belly-down on her bed. Shaking slightly, she reached her hands out and took hold of each wing, spreading them out to their full span to see what damage there was.

"Oh my god . . ." she whispered hoarsely, looking at the poor battered things. Many of the feathers were torn or missing, and broken fragments of bones jutted out in different areas. Whatever had got him got him good.

"Tifa! I got some people from the pub-"

"Go get the doctor, and tell Denzel to run to the material store and ask to borrow some cure materia," Tifa cut Marlene off, not wanting her to the bloody mess that this man had become.

Standing still and listening as Marlene's foot steps became fainter, Tifa dropped the wings, bringing her hands up in front of her palm-up and staring transfixed at the blood that stained them. Even with everything she had gone through in fighting Sephiroth, nothing had seemed so horrible; such destruction that seemed based on letting the person live in suffering and pain instead of just killing them off.

Coming back to her senses, Tifa walked over to her closet, opening the wooden doors and grabbing a bag that was filled with glittering stones. She quickly and unerringly threw the bag open, hardly spending a second on the locking mechanism she had placed on it to keep the children from messing with anything it in. The top of the bag out of the way, she began to dig through the contents, finally coming back with a green orb and a satisfied look on her face.

Sliding the mastered Cure materia into a slot on her armlet, she turned to face the man-bird again. Without even thinking about it, she cast Curaga on the man, only to hear a groan of pain. She gasped as she realized she had just cured all of his broken bones the way they were, probably doing more damage to him than his initial wounds had.

Knowing that she had messed up big time, she slowly inched towards the man, looking at the bones which were now sealed in his flesh. She poked one of them, snapping her hand back quickly as she heard an immediate yelp of pain come from the poor man. Groaning and laying her open palm against her forehead, she wondered what on Earth she had gotten into.

She stayed like that for a few minutes, standing silently and listening the moans of the man on the bed. Only when Marlene and Denzel came rushing in with the doctor at their heels and materia gleaming in their hands did she move, dropping her own hand down and turning to look at them.

"Marlene, Denzel, thank you for all your help. Go try and calm the other children down. Tell them not to worry about Mr. Birdy," she commanded, waiting until the two ran out before she addressed the doctor. "The kids found this man outside on the ground, his . . . well, I guess wings, were badly damaged, almost ripped entirely to pieces . . ." Tifa looked down at the wounded man in apology, "I tried to cure him, but I forgot that his bones . . . were sticking out. . and. . well, you see what happened." She waved her hand towards 'Mr. Birdy', then looked back to the doctor.

"Your healing certainly did a number on him . . ." The doctor stated as he moved closer to examine his patient. Pulling rubber gloves on, he leaned closer to the wings of the man, staring down at them intensely through his spectacles. A frown had made its way to his face and he rubbing his chin before reaching down to touch part of the wing.

"Ahhhh! Fucker!" the man screamed, trying to roll onto his back to escape the prodding hands of the doctor.

"Now now, no need for foul language."

Tifa stared at the two, watching as the doctor tried to restrain the poor wounded man only to get slapped by a broken wing. She winced, wondering which of the two in front of her it had hurt more. From the stunned look on the doctor's face and the more pain-filled expression of the winged man, she could easily guess that it hadn't quite had the effect the attacker had wanted.

Sighing, Tifa turned to head out the door, only to find it blocked by the staring faces of children. She frowned, walking towards them and began to usher them out, looking for Marlene and Denzel in the crowd.

"Where are Marlene and Denzel?" She asked one of the children once they got back into the main room of the orphanage.

"Well, they weren't gonna let us watch, so we locked 'em out," The little girl informed, her face glowing with pride. "See? Isn't that what we're supposed to do if we're in trouble?"

Sighing and shaking her head, Tifa crouched down to talk to the little girl, ruffling the child's hair a little bit. "Only with strangers, honey. Now, you go on with your friends and I'll go get Marlene and Denzel, but no more locking other children out, got it?"

"Got it!" She assured, grinning and running off to play with the others.

Massaging her temples with her right middle finger and thumb, she turned back to go in and help the doctor. However, when she tried to go back in, the doctor merely told her that she should go and get the assistants. Nodding slightly, she told all the children to behave and then went into the kitchen, taking a few Aspirin before heading out to track down the doctor's assistants.

In the days since Meteor's almost complete destruction of Midgar, Kalm had grown into a rather large and busy city. Being so close to the ruins had once been a draw for tourists, causing the city to begin expanding rapidly. But now that Midgar was repaired and even now being expanded, the rush the city had had just a year ago was dying down, the tourists were leaving to see Midgar closer, leaving only the ones who had decided to reside in the city. Of course, there were still many Inns, as many people were still stopping in to rest before making the rest of the trek to Midgar.

Thinking of Midgar, Tifa glared and looked up at the sky. The clouds around Kalm had begun to darken and covered parts of the sky. The area of Midgar's pollution had spread to this city. You could still see the sun, and the dark clouds weren't completely obscuring the view of the blue sky, but she could tell that in a few months this place would be looking much like Midgar.

Sighing, she looked back to the orphanage, wondering how she would be able to afford moving all those children to a better place. Not only that, but Barrett had gone out a few weeks ago to try and find Cloud. He was thinking of attempting to rebel against Shin-Ra again.

Without even thinking about where she was going at all, Tifa arrived at the doctor's office. For a moment she wondered why she'd never bothered to learn his name, but then passed it off as her just being egotistical and thinking that she didn't need any healers. This episode had certainly gotten rid of that feeling. Before she could even push the wooden doors they opened, revealing a young red-haired woman.

"Oh, hello. You're Tifa Lockheart, right? The woman who runs the orphanage?" The woman asked as she moved out of the way, her left arm sticking out to keep the door from shutting.

"Yes, that's me," Tifa replied with a nod and a smile. She stepped through the door, watching as the woman closed it and locked it.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. You almost never come to the doctor, and the children only do for their shots. But they usually come with Barret . . ." The woman gasped, her hands moving up to her face. "Is Barret hurt?"

"No, he's all right, just away looking for something, but there is another person wounded severely at my orphanage. The doctor sent me to get his assistants."

The woman looked away, a small glare on her face. "It's good that Barrett is all right . . . The assistants you're talking about must be Eeron and Tiela. You can sit down where ever you'd like while I go get them." With a bow, the red-haired woman left the room.

Instead of sitting down like the woman had offered, Tifa opted to pace back and forth, looking out the large glass windows and stare aimlessly at the city around her. For a moment, she suddenly wondered why she had left the safety of her friends and decided to live here in Kalm. If she had decided to live with Cid and Shera in Rocket Town, Cid would've known what to do in this situation. Or she and Barret could've moved to Corel. Surely Marlene would like to be in the place her daddy was born.

But then she did remember why she had come here. She had remembered how scary it was when she had lost her mother; how alone she had felt when her father had been taken away from her. Tifa had thought of all the children who might have survived the attack of Meteor and had seen their parents killed. She had come here for them, had used a small bit of her money to buy the orphanage and repair it t living conditions.

Now, the children were like a family to her. Amiable to everyone after the fight against Sephiroth, Tifa had been quick to make friends, and now knew basically everyone, save the doctor. After she had met Hojo, doctors had been people to watch out for. Even though she knew Hojo had been a scientist, he had worn clothes so similar to a doctor's when they'd had to fight him . . .

She shuddered at the memory of the malformed Hojo, poisoning her friends and the one-time love of her life. A bitter laugh slipped out. One-time love? She didn't think she would ever get over what she had tried to have with Cloud, but in the end, he couldn't get Aerith out of his head. At least, she thought it was Aerith he loved. Towards the end, she had never been certain.

But one thing was for sure; he didn't love her.

"Miss? You wanted to see us?" a masculine voice called from behind her, shaking her out of her depressing thoughts. Forcing a light smile to her face she turned around.

"You're the doctor's assistants, right?" Tifa looked them over. The dark haired girl was about her own height with a slim body, though it was easy for Tifa to tell the woman wasn't much of a fighter. The girl, Tifa assumed was the one named Tiela, had her hair pulled up in a bun, her bangs pushed to the sides of her face and her sideburns hanging just a little bit past her chin. She was wearing a blue skirt that went to her knees, a matching blazer, and a dress shirt of a lighter blue underneath that.

Eeron, the boy, was about the same height as Cloud. He had a mop of messy red hair that made him looked as if he had just crawled out of bed. As if trying to catch people off-guard with his hair, his face was surprisingly professional-looking. He was wearing long black dress pants and a white shirt, his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, that'd be us," piped the girl, smiling pleasantly and waving. "I'm Tiela and this is Eeron. Pleasure to meet ya!"

Tifa smiled, reminded of Yuffie slightly in the girl in front of her. "It's nice to be you as well, but I'm afraid that I'm here for something a bit more serious."

"Please just ignore her," Eeron said, stepping in-between the two women, "she can be a little excitable."

"Don't worry, she's fine. Reminds me of one of my friends actually . . ." She smiled again, watching a Tiela made a face at Eeron's back. Tifa frowned slightly, a little worried. Would that girl be good enough to help the doctor?

"Right. Anyway, Miss Mizaki said that the doctor wanted to see us."

Brought back from her worries of Tiela, she remembered the poor boy she had hurt. "Oh yes, he's working on a patient at my orphanage."

He nodded, "Right, let's go."

All playfulness gone, Tiela looked at Eeron. They both nodded to each other and ran off towards the 7th Heaven. Caught off-guard, Tifa ran after them a second later. For doctors, they ran pretty fast, but Tifa was a trained warrior and quickly got in pace with them.

The trio soon reached the 7th Heaven, all of them going straight to the room where the bird man was. They could just follow the sounds of the poor man moaning. As Tifa tried to walk in behind the two assistants, Tiela turned around and put her hand out to stop her.

"You wait out here with the children. This room is now doctors only."

Before she could protest, the door had shut in Tifa's face. Deciding that her children would probably want an explanation, she walked into the main bedroom where the children were. Smiling comfortingly she sat down on one of the beds, patting her laps. Immediately the children ran over to her, jumping on the bed, on her lap, or sitting down on the floor or adjacent beds.

"Who would like to hear a story?" Tifa asked, her voice becoming mischievous. Many of the children cheered at her question. "Ooh, I don't think you do!" The cheer got louder, the children happy to have someone to comfort them. Laughing, Tifa picked up a stack of books from of the bedside tables.

Opening the first book, she began to read, showing the pictures to the children after she was done with each page. It would be a long wait, and Tifa know that she needed this distraction as much as the children.

OOOOO

"All right, tell me again, why we can't just take the ship back over there, like normal people?" Ian asked for about the hundredth time that morning. Cloud sighed, running a hand through his hair. This man was getting rather troublesome to be around.

"Look, I practically destroyed Shin-Ra once; I broke in to Shin-Ra; I've killed their SOLDIERs, destroyed their reactors-"

"Okay okay! I get what you've done, but what does that have to do with the ship?"

The blond turned around, his blue eyes blazing with anger. "I don't need to run into anymore Shin-Ra employees, and your employers definitely don't need to know you're with me. Got it?"

A look of dawning came over Ian's face. "Oh. Good point. But, uh, how are we gonna get across the ocean then?" As if to answer his question, the duo came upon chocobo tracks in the grass. Cloud smirked, reaching into a bag he had tied to his hip. After a few moments of digging, he pulled out some greens. "You've gotta be kidding me! We're taking one of these birds across the sea?" He waved his hand out at the birds. "Seriously, how likely is it that there's gonna be one Gold Chocobo in that bunch-"

"Choco, come here now!" Cloud called out, holding the greens in his hand. A large bird with golden feathers came at his call.

"Kwee!" Grinning, Cloud tossed Choco the greens before turning around to smirk at Ian. The black-haired man merely rolled his eyes, walking over to marvel at the Gold Chocobo. He'd never seen one outside of the Chocobo Races.

"Well . . . That's mighty impressive . . . Choco was it? Not a very original name . . ." Ian looked over the chocobo, examining its wings and legs before going up to look over its beak. "But then again, you were probably a bit busy with saving the world to name her well, though I can't see how you had time to breed her . . ."

The blond man shrugged, leaping onto his chocobo's back. "It took some time, but I just did it in between saving the world and destroying the Weapons." He puffed up slightly, petting his chocobo's neck.

"Yeah yeah, I've heard all about your marvelous deeds . . ." The dark haired man assured him, climbing on behind the blond. Wrapping his right arm around Cloud's waist to steady himself, he leaned down and picked up the bags full of supplies. "Are you sure we really needed all this stuff?" he asked with a grunt, pulling the top half of his body and the rest of the stuff back into a more comfortable position.

"Who's saved the world here?"

"Do you ever stop bringing that up?"

"Not if I can help it." With that, Cloud gently kicked the sides of his chocobo with his heels, being careful not to hurt her. Quickly, Choco took off, the blond on top of her taking a firm grip on the feathers on the sides of her neck, gently pulling right or left to correct her direction. Ian held the bags in his lap, both of his arms holding onto Cloud to make sure he didn't fall off.

"Why can't we just take the Highwind? I've heard that's a great airship!" yelled Ian as he tried to be heard over the rush of wind around them.

"Cid's got it!" Cloud yelled back, looking over his shoulder slightly. "He said that he wanted to keep it after all he'd been through with it!"

Nodding Ian buried his face in-between Cloud's shoulder blades, shutting his eyes and holding on for dear life. He definitely didn't like this, and since Choco was a Gold Chocobo, she went way too fast for his liking. "And I thought motorcycles were bad . . ." he muttered, his hands tightening their grip on Cloud's clothing.

Cloud looked back over his shoulder again, his eyes portraying a bit of his mind's worried state. If this was how the kid was acting on land, how well would he handle going through the water? As he thought about that, he suddenly remembered something. Cid was back in Rocket Town with Shera . . . and Rocket Town was just over the mountains!

Smiling suddenly, Cloud went back to focusing on steering Choco. He gently pulled on the feathers that were bunched up in his left hand, making the chocobo veer left until he relaxed the pull on them. Now they were heading towards the mountains.

"Things are about to get a bit bumpier, we've had a change of plans!" He yelled over his shoulder at Ian, not bothering to look back, "You gave me the great idea of going to get Cid!"

"Oh, wonderful!" Ian yelled back, nuzzling his face closer to Cloud's shirt and shutting his eyes tightly. "I'm glad I could help with our early demise!"

"We aren't gonna die on a chocobo!" The blond yelled, watching as the mountains slowly began to get bigger. They were approaching pretty fast. "They're mountain trails Choco can take, it's not like we're gonna be scaling walls here!"

"Tch, whatever," he mumbled in reply, holding on even tighter as the ground began to incline slightly. Cloud chuckled, amused at his companion. The chocobo was only going up a hill, but there was no need to tell Ian that; not yet, while it was so much fun.

As they began to go down the hill, Ian's eyes opened rather wide in surprise. They were past the mountains already? Loosening his grip on Cloud slightly, he lifted his head in time for the chocobo to start going up one of the trails on the mountain. Yelping, he buried his head back in the cloth of Cloud's shirt. The blond chuckled again, earning a punch in his side that made his laughter all the louder.

But soon enough, his amusement had come to an end. Ian had calmed down after a while and had (thankfully) let go of his shirt. The dark haired man was taking an active interest in their surroundings, and was blissfully quiet. Cloud looked around as well, but he was looking for things that might pose a threat to them.

So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He was looking around all sides, trying to make out distinct shapes in the mountainous area that surrounded them. Everything appeared as it should. The blond looked back on the path; there was no one following them and he couldn't even see end of the trail anymore. They were probably about half way through the mountains.

Choco was beginning to slow down. She had been walking for most of the path and now was close to coming to a stop. Seeing a place where the path they were on converged with another path going perpendicular to theirs, Cloud decided that would be a good enough place to stop. He made Choco go to the right, stopping her at the cross the two intersecting paths made.

Turning around and grabbing the bags from Ian's lap he jumped off Choco's back, landing lightly on his feet just to the side of the large bird. Ian soon followed, landing a bit less gracefully than Cloud. The dark haired man was obviously glad to be off the bird, as he began to walk around looking for a good place to flop down.

Cloud took Choco off the trail, leading her to a nearby stream. That was another one of the reasons Cloud had chosen this spot as a good place to rest. If they just used the things around them, their rations could be spared for another time. Of course, he didn't think they would really need all the rations; once they were out of the mountains Choco would be able to cross the fields to Rocket Town quickly.

He glanced over at Ian, wondering how he was faring after the trek atop Choco through the mountains. The young man had pulled out his laptop and was working on something; probably reporting back to his superiors on how he was doing on tracking down the clones.

Yawning, Cloud leaned back, enjoying the peace and quiet that the mountain environment offered. Although he had liked it in Coast del Sol, the joy he was feeling in traveling again was an obvious sign that he wasn't quite ready to settle down and live in one spot yet. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. They had been on the path for a few hours now; he wasn't sure if they would be able to make it to Cid's house before nightfall.

A sound from the other path made Cloud's eyes snap open. Ian had heard it too, as he was now staring down the path the noise had come from. It sounded like someone was coming . . .

AAAAA

Shorter than I had thought it would turn out, but oh well. ;


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I dun own anything! Except, you know, the plot.

Warnings: Foul language, OCs, Almost shounen-ai (nothing serious)

Author Notes (a look at the important ones again):

"Blah" Speech

'Blah' Thoughts

Blah/ Telepathic Speech

OOOOO Scene Change

AAAAA Chapter End

Notes in Which the Author Blabbers on for Lack of Anything Better to do:

Welcome to the third chapter of 'Perpetual Manipulation'! For all of those who are reading this story, thanks for keeping up with it and sorry that it took so long for me to get this chapter out. -- Hit a little speed bump in the writing process.

In other news, I finally found out how to check out the hits my stories are getting, and I was _shocked_! From the reviews (or rather, lack thereof), I had thought that no one was reading this. But low and behold, there they were! Many hits! Please people, it's important for you all to **review**! .. It lets me know if I should keep going with a story or stop, so please, I'm begging you, **review!**

Now that that's done, on with the fic!

Chapter Three

The halls of the 32nd floor of the Shin-Ra tower were mostly empty, this being the private floor of the Turks. Although they had performed dismally against Cloud and the others, most of the old Turks were still around, but their numbers had increased drastically since Midgar and Shin-Ra had come under new rule. It seemed that their new boss preferred quantity over quality.

But, in all honesty, none of this mattered a bit to the red-haired man that now stalked along those hallways, searching, in what seemed like vain, for his comrade Rude. The Shin-Ra building could burn down and kill all but him; it didn't matter, so long as he get his pay check on time and had a steady supply of money to support a lifestyle of his choosing. This lifestyle was, of course, consisting mostly of booze and women.

He was considered sloppy, messy, and rather unprofessional, but Tseng had yet to fire him, and the man could do his job when it really mattered. Sneaking up behind victims? No problem. Blasting a hole in the back of someone's head point-blank with a gun? Sure thing. Reno was, by necessity, one of the best Turks Shin-Ra had to offer, despite his lethargic appearance.

The way he drank almost half of his life away rubbed his boss the wrong way, but in all honesty the leader of the Turks couldn't find a damn way to get rid of the bastard. Nope, Reno was there to stay, and would probably be the one to take charge of the Turks if Tseng ever decided to die or if the man ever quit. And after his boss had survived a nasty encounter with Sephiroth, Reno wasn't entirely sure the man could die, though he seemed close to quitting ever since they had lost Rufus.

It was common knowledge that Tseng had run into Sephiroth and survived, news that had spread like wildfire and had soon engulfed the entire working part of Shin-Ra. The Wutaian man would never tell how he had survived, so legends had been spun; most just random stories that made Tseng smirk in quiet amusement. He would have quickly put a stop to those silly rumors, if there wasn't one problem; he wasn't sure how he had survived either.

The dark-haired man wasn't about to be egotistical enough to claim that he had beaten Sephiroth, for he knew that he would never be able to conquer a feat like that. His only guess was that Sephiroth had decided not to waste time making sure he was dead. After he talked with Cloud and the blond's groupies, he had passed out, only to awaken hours later on a copter with Rufus looking over at him worriedly and Reno, Elena, and Rude trying to get the helicopter to go faster.

Reno had thought about that day a lot ever since Meteor had been destroyed. It seemed a miracle that his boss had lived, a miracle that he couldn't help but be happy about. No matter how different his boss was from him, the man had earned Reno's respect time and time again, and he didn't think that he would be able to follow the commands of any other Turk.

But Tseng wasn't the reason the Turk had come in before his hours started, or why he relentlessly searched through all of the offices. His reason for being at the Shin-Ra building was apparently hiding out somewhere and laughing at the way the red-haired man was searching everywhere for him while cursing under his breath.

"Shit, where the fuck do you run off to anyway?" he mumbled under his breath as he left the last office, now desperately wanting a drink. Reno had spent the entire morning searching, only to find out from one of the new Turks that Rude hadn't been seen all day.

"Hey, Reno! What are you doing here?" asked a puzzled voice from behind him. Turning around with a glare on his face, he looked over at Elena.

"I'm trying to find Rude in this God-forsaken tower! And the fucker isn't even here! Probably called in sick or some other damn bullshit so he could have me looking everywhere for 'em. ." Reno's tone had started off harsh, but dribbled off in the end as he started feeling a bit like a heel for yelling at the blonde Turk.

Elena, on the other hand, was not in the least offended, but she was having a hard time trying not to snicker at her companion's predicament. "I don't think Rude would purposely hide from you, he likes drinking with you too much."

"Yeah, well that bastard's about to lose that privilege," he mumbled, glaring down at his shoes, "The one day I actually have to find him and he's not here. 'Fuckin' making me look bad."

The blonde Turk smiled sympathetically, patting Reno on his shoulder. "I'm sure he'll turn up, and I'm also sure he's not doing this to piss you off or to make you look bad." With that, she gave his shoulder one last squeeze and then went on her way.

"Thanks for all the help!" the red-haired man called after her, his voice dripping with sarcasm and spite. His only answer was the woman laughing at his words. "Fuckin' bitch."

A few hours later, Rude was no where to be found. Reno flopped into a chair; his arms propped over the back of the chair to hang down as he laid back and closed his eyes. How long would he have to be searching for Rude? This wasn't one of the bald man's days off, so he should be right there.

Sighing overdramatically and grabbing a hat from a near-by table, the red head leaned back in his chair, his legs coming up and crossing at the knee while his feet rested on the table in front of him. He grabbed the rim of his hat as he did this, pulling it down over his eyes before interlocking his fingers and laying his now-entwined hands on his stomach.

If anyone was going to do the finding here, he decided briskly, it was going to be Rude.

"Reno?" asked a familiar baritone voice. Frowning immediately in recognition, the red-head lifted up one side of the hat to peer at his bald friend with one bright green eye.

"What the Hell? I've been looking for you all morning and the fucking second I give up looking for you, here you are," he grumbled, taking the hat off and removing his feet from the desk so he could sit up straight. "Nice timing."

"Mmm, it's not my fault you're slacking off all the time."

"I wasn't slacking off, you dick-head!"

Nodding silently and mockingly, the bald man raised a questioning eyebrow at his friend. "Why were you looking for me anyway?"

"Changin' the damn subject on me," Reno mumbled under his breath before replying, "we've been given a new mission by the Bossman."

This perked Rude's interest. "Really? What is it?"

"Remember the escaped clones?"

"Yeah, they sent a scientist out to look for them a few days ago I believe."

"Well, we haven't heard a thing from the bastard, and the people up at the top are starting to sweat," he said, standing up from his chair and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Understandable. It's only a matter of time before news of the recent escape leaks out to the public, and when it does, it'll be a field day for the press."

Reno nodded curtly, slipping into his Turk frame of mind, "exactly. That's why we're being sent out to find the clones first, and then the scientist."

"We bring them both back?"

"Yeah. By force, if necessary. And the scientist has been marked as 'expendable'."

"Are we to kill him or bring him back?" the other Turk asked, frowning behind his dark sunglasses and crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"Whichever comes first, but if he's told anyone else about his mission, we're to bring only his head back, preferably on a silver platter for Miliky."

They both mulled over their options after that, Reno waiting until Rude asked another question before he went on.

"When are we to leave for this?" the man finally asked, breaking Reno out of his reveries of killing his new Top-Bosswoman.

"As soon as possible. So, taking into consideration the time at the moment, preparations for leaving, re-stocking our inventories, and securing a boat, I'd say by tomorrow afternoon; evening at tops."

Another frown. "Right. If we're going that soon, I'll need to start gathering everything together."

The red-head smirked, "Gotta make sure you've got all the appropriate outfits for diner dates?"

"You never know. . ." was all the bald man said as he turned and began to walk off towards the elevator. "We'll meet in the lobby tomorrow morning, then hit some shops before going over to Junon. That good for you?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Oh, by the way, we're going to Costa del Sol first. That's where Zamdi was headed when he set out."

"Zamdi's the scientist they sent out?"

The red-haired man nodded. "Yup. Well, seeya," he said, turning on his heel and waving his right hand once before pushing in back into his pocket and walking off. Rude sighed; this mission wasn't going to be pleasant. Not that any really were, but going out into the world and searching for six clones of strongest man that ever lived and were more than likely homicidal was not on his list of things to do before he died.

He chuckled; even if it wasn't on his list, it might be the _last_ thing he did before he died.

OOOOO

Tifa sighed as she tucked the last child in; it was almost nine and most of the children had fallen asleep during story time. With nothing else to do and still needing a distraction, the woman had declared an early bed-time and had busied herself with getting all the children ready and clean for a goodnight's sleep. Now, she was a bit exhausted and still on the edge; there was no news from the doctor.

Walking towards the door, she glanced at all the nightlights, making sure that everything was in order for all the kids. Satisfied, she turned around to look at them one last time lovingly before flicking off the lights and walking out, leaving the door open just enough for a sliver of light to creep in and give the younger children a bit of added illumination to chase away the monsters and bad dreams.

Finished with her beloved children, the brunette headed downstairs to where the main lobby was. Sitting down on one of the soft red couches in there, she stared at the door and the sign that read 'Open.' She had closed the Inn earlier in the morning, planning on a day spent relaxing and entertaining her precious children. But the only thing it seemed she had gotten right was closing down; the day had been far from relaxing or entertaining.

Yawning, she stretched out on her back, her hands folding together and resting on her stomach. It had been quite a day. A check list went through her mind, reminding her of anything that she still needed to do. Nothing came up as undone, so she really had nothing to do but wait for the doctors to get finished while thinking about how much she had hurt the poor man.

Tifa couldn't seem to get him out of her mind. It festered and ate away at her, nagging at her and mocking her for making his condition worse in her pathetic attempt to help him. Whenever she managed to get away from thoughts of him, something would end up picking at it again, like a sore, and it would begin it's festering all over again.

Closing her eyes after staring at the ceiling idly for a few minutes, the young woman drifted off into a light, troubled sleep. Catching of memories drifted past her eyes; Cloud; Weapon; Sephiroth, until finally her mind settled on one memory; Aerith's death.

All through the events leading up to her friend's early demise, she had been a bit jealous of the older brunette. How could she have not been? Cloud obviously preferred the gentle flower girl over his childhood friend, and that certainly didn't help. Aerith had saved the young blond, and it seemed the two had become inseparable sometime between their first meeting and when they met up again with Tifa at the Wall Market.

They had even gone on a date just days before Aerith died! Tifa remembered how lonely she had suddenly felt when she heard that Aerith and Cloud were off spending a fun-filled night together. The two were even in the play.

But despite all this, Tifa had grown very close to Aerith. Surprisingly, this bond had even survived fighting over Cloud. The women sometimes even joked about having a 'fight to the death' over Cloud, both getting a good laugh at the thought of Cloud in a dress and the two of them dressed up as knights in shining armor.

When Aerith died, it had devastated them all, and although some people might have thought that it hadn't affected the brunette as much as it had everyone else, she had taken it very hard. It had felt like she had lost not only a good friend, but an elder sister. And seeing Cloud when he had held the woman's limp body in his arms had broken her heart and the numb shock that had grown when she'd first seen Sephiroth's sword slip so easily into the older woman's back.

She remembered jumping up the pillars caught up in a tide of fury only to be distracted by Jenova while Sephiroth, her best friend's killer, slunk off into the shadows, to pay for his crime a later day.

"Miss Lockheart?" asked a questioning female voice, accompanied with a soft poke to Tifa's cheek. The newly-awakened brunette's eyes snapped open and she bolted up to a sitting position, looking over at her attacker.

"Oh, Tiela, wasn't it?" Tifa said as a greeting, yawning and rubbing her right eye with her hand. "I'm sorry; I must've dozed off waiting for you. Is he . . . all right?"

Tiela smiled, reassuring the other woman, "everything will be right as rain. The winged man just needs a bit of bed rest, and seeing as this is an inn, I'm guessing that won't be a problem."

"That's good to hear," she answered, visibly relaxing. "There are a few extra rooms, so he can have one of those."

"Yup! Oh yeah, some blood got all over your bed," Tiela said, "I think it probably soaked through to the mattress, so you'd probably be better off throwing all of your current bedding, along with the mattress, out and getting yourself a new one. Sorry."

Tifa shook her head, "there's no need for you to be sorry; he was bleeding when I first put him in that bed, so it's my fault anyway."

Tiela didn't reply, but frowned a little bit. Tifa noticed this, wondering what was wrong before standing up from the couch. She stretched her arms and shoulders a bit before looking back at the assistant. "Are you, Eeron, and the doctor leaving now?"

"Wha? Oh, yeah, we'll be leaving now, but we'll help you move the man to a room first. He's sleeping now, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem." After a nod of affirmation, Tiela walked back to Tifa's room, the fight right behind her.

As soon as the door opened, both the doctor and Eeron looked up at the two women. "Ah, nice timing. Doctor Uzugami just finished up with our most reluctant patient. It seems even asleep he likes to put up a fight against the people helping him," Eeron said, walking over to the women.

"Thank you so much for helping him," Tifa replied, bowing slightly in a form of gratitude.

"You two help Misses Lockheart carry this man into another room," ordered Uzugami, completely disregarding all the words that had exchanged between Tifa and his assistant. "Ma'am, you do know that this will cost some money, don't you?"

"Yes, of course. We all need to make a living somehow. . . How much will it cost?"

"100 gil."

"That's all? Please, it should be more, I feel like I'm getting away with highway robbery at that price," she said, shocked at how low the price was for such a severe operation.

"That's all I'm going to charge; consider it a favor." With that said, the doctor began to leave. "Eeron, Tiela; you two can just go home, there's no need for you two to come back here."

"Yes, doctor."

"Right-o Uzi!"

Giving his two assistants a warm smile, he walked off in the direction of the lobby, planning on finishing up some paperwork at his office before heading back to his family for the night.

"Well, now that that's taken care of; let's get this guy to a new room!" Tiela said cheerfully, practically running over to still-healing man.

"Wait, he didn't take his payment!" Tifa remembered suddenly, preparing to run after the doctor. She was stopped by Eeron's hand being placed on her shoulder.

"It's all right, you can give me the money and I'll run it over to the doctor once we've moved this guy to a room he can stay in for the night," the red-head assured her before going over and gently grabbing the winged man's legs. Tiela quickly followed suit and grabbed the man's chest.

"One, two, three, heave!" the girl piped, lifting the unidentified man on 'heave' with Eeron. Tifa ran over quickly and hefted up the man's stomach, supporting both of the assistants as they carried him into one of the guest rooms of the inn.

Once they had dropped him off in a new room, Tiela and Eeron prepared take their leave.

"Just call us if you need anymore help with this guy, though I'm pretty sure he'll be a bit calmer now that's he's been healed," Eeron said as Tifa handed him the payment for the doctor. "I'll just run this over to Doctor Uzugami and then head home. You take care."

"Yeah, you too," the brunette replied as the two assistants walked off, waving at them for a moment before going back inside and locking the door. She checked in on the children one more time just to make sure that all of them were still fast asleep. Once satisfied that they would be all right for the night, Tifa headed into one of the spare rooms, only stopping to take off her gloves and shoes before jumping into the comfortable bed and passing out for the night.

OOOOO

"Cloud, what was that noise?" Ian asked, not lowering his voice in the slightest. A heated glare from the blond made him fall silent. Motionlessly he watched as Cloud moved to a crouched position and slowly slunk over to where he had laid his swords.

The dark haired man slowly came to his senses and moved his laptop off his lap, crawling over to where his bag laid. Reaching it, he dug inside, his hand coming out a few moments later with a gun. After quickly checking that it was loaded and taking the safety off, he moved over to where Cloud was crouched in a battle position.

"So I take it we're going to fight whatever comes around that bend?" the scientist whispered, leaning closer to his companion. Cloud only nodded as an answer to his question. Ian sighed. He wasn't good at fighting, and would probably just hold the blond back.

As if sensing Ian's reluctance, Cloud whispered back, "don't worry, I've fought alone in worse conditions; even if you can't help, everything should be fine. More than likely it's just going to be a wandering animal."

"Yeah? Well, I hate to tell you this, but the mountains don't have many friendly animals. The best you could say about them is that the nice animals are only outnumbered by the blood-thirsty by a few hundred," Ian replied, making sure his voice was soft and low.

The blond at his side just smiled and shook his head. "Can't you even be assured of your safety with the 'savior' of the planet at your side?"

"You know, when the news came out two years ago that you had saved the world, I'd have never guessed you'd be self-centered and narcissistic."

"It comes with the gig," Cloud replied before moving his attention back to whatever was coming. As he waited for the thing to come around the bend, the blond hoped that it was just a monster. Anything in this region would be a walk in the park for the young hero, but he had a sinking suspicion that it wasn't any animal waltzing towards them.

OOOOO

Ever since they had escaped from Midgar, the trio of clones had been relying on Kadaj. Because he was the youngest, he was the most refined product the scientists had made, and was therefore stronger than his elder 'brothers'. He was leading his two companions steadily towards the small town of Nibelheim, where he believed their mother lived.

For the past few months, Kadaj had been tortured by the soft whispers of a woman in his mind; the voice always egging him on to escape and to collect her body. She told him how to get to her nearest body part, and assured him that this was all for the best. That it would rid the world of GeoStigma.

Under normal circumstances, the skeptical youth wouldn't have believed a word of it, he would've just accepted that he was going insane. But the voice in his head demanded obedience, and despite his protests, could control what he did every so often. So, in the end, he had given in and broken free of the labs, in search of the woman who called her his mother and had planted the idea of a Reunion in his head.

The Reunion was the only thing he wasn't sure of. What kind of Reunion? What exactly was his mother preparing to gather together? She had said that the Reunion would drag the GeoStigma out of the peoples of the planet, but a large amount of the humans affected by it would have to be gathered.

Sighing, the young clone broke out of his thoughts and looked over at his companions, Yazu and Loz. He had told them what he was looking for and what he was planning to do. Since they were like brothers to him, he had also included the details of the mysterious woman and how she could occasionally control him; use him like a puppet.

Both had exchanged concerned looks with one another, but had promised their younger brother that they would, nonetheless, travel and have faith in him, to the very end of this 'Reunion'. It worried Yazu and Loz that this strange, detached voice could control even the powerful Kadaj, but they were confident that as long as they followed this woman's crazed plan, Kadaj would be all right.

And if it so happened that GeoStigma really was taken from the planet, well it was all for the better? And if a few people died while they were doing this, so be it. Better they die quickly by the edge of a sword or by a bullet through the skull than by the horrible pain of GeoStigma.

The trio was resting on the mountain trail, situated next to a small stream. They'd been traveling straight for a few days now, making sure that they left nothing behind that Shin-Ra could use to track them. It had been quite a long trek on foot, and Kadaj had decided-after being whined at almost ceaselessly by Yazu-that it would be a good time to stop for a while.

They had reached their resting spot a few hours ago, and the threesome was now packing up, refreshed for the moment and ready to traverse the mountainous trail through the dimming twilight and soon the darkness. Just as they started to move out, Kadaj stopped his two brothers, staring down with interest into the stream.

Curious, both Yazu and Loz moved a bit to have a better view of what was floating by. A chocobo feather. Grinning, Loz jumped over to it and plucked the feather out of the water, in the course of which he made quite a bit of racket. He stopped smiling as soon as Kadaj's heated glare fell upon him.

"Cloud, what was that noise?"

The youth's gaze flicked from Loz lightning fast, now fixed upon the bend in the trail. Someone was just around the corner. Frowning at nothing in particular, Kadaj mulled over the words in his mind. Cloud, Cloud. . . For some reason, it seemed as though he should know that name. Almost sensing his brother's distress, Yazu leaned over to whisper in his brother's ear.

"Cloud Strife, savior of the planet." Kadaj shuddered as his brother's soft breath traveled over his ear, the other's lips tantalizingly close.

"Perhaps it's just the name of the chocobo?" he suggested quietly, reigning in all his other thoughts besides what was happening at the moment.

"Do you think we'd be that fortunate? We've had too much good luck as it is to hope that this Cloud person is merely an overgrown bird."

"Still, what are the odds that he would just _happen_ to be in the mountains on this _same _path?"

"Not very high," Yazu admitted, "unless it isn't just coincidence. What if he just _happened_ to hear about our escape and _happened_ to come to the conclusion that we were traveling through this region."

Kadaj frowned. "I don't think it's very likely that he would come here, of all places, to look for some missing clones. There are plenty of other better-suited hiding places that we would've gone to before the mountains, so why would he think to come here?"

"He may know why we're traveling through these mountains," Yazu replied, eerily calm for having the savior of the planet-and perhaps one of the only men on the planet that could defeat them-just a few feet in front of him.

Kadaj just snorted. "That's highly unlikely. From what she's told me, it's been over 15 years since part of her was trapped in that reactor. Even if he knew about it, Hell, even if he _remembered_ it, there's no way that he could make the connection so soon after our escape."

"So we're to assume that he's out on different business?"

"For the moment, yes, though I doubt that news of our escape has escaped his notice."

"We up for a fight?" Loz asked, tired of remaining quiet during this tense conversation.

A smirk came to Kadaj's face, showing his appreciation for Loz's little interruption. "Hopefully."

AAAAA

.. This chapter was really bad. ;; Some parts of it suck, and I'm sorry 'bout that. I promise the next chapter will be better (and hopefully posted quicker).

And I also promise that the next chapter will have some fighting in it!


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